My Recap of the Spurs @ Rockets!

This is the first live game I've seen in nearly 2 years so I have been waiting for this one for along time! This makes me 1-0 in attendance for the season, and what a game it was! I took notes and I am using my memory to write this recap so if I missed something, my bad.

To start the game Steve made some great plays to get inside for easy lay-ups for himself, including one that he appeared to have lost control of but spun it up off his hip and of the glass for 2.
Great defence early on Tim Duncan, Mo Taylor fronting him and once the ball was lobbed over the top, Yao rotated over to Duncan and Tim had no where to go. Excellent decision there from Rudy cause it shut down Duncan for the bulk of his time on the court, and ultimately, made him work really hard to get the points he got.
Yao was the goto guy early on, getting it down to him in the post where he was held about 15 feet out. His first basket came off an awesome shot fading to the left baseline with Robinson in his face. Yao was very aggressive on the boards, hustled for offensive putbacks and was rewarded with a nice 3 point play with Duncan and Robinson all over him. I could see that he will have no problem getting rebounds throughout his career.
Glen Rice got the ball in the post on Bowen and nailed his first turn-around jumper but attempted the exact same shot not long after and had it blocked. Glen seems to be too slow to be a post guy, you can see that he is limited in what he can do in the post because of his physical condition. This also may explain why his jumper wasn't on today because the release was very slow. He recieved a good pass from Steve and was open but his defender recovered in time to put a hand in his face.
Mo Taylor was very active, trying to get it going. Had an attempted pick and roll with Steve but Robinson was able to knock it away. I would love to see a pick and roll with those 2 more often because Mo can finish or hit that 15 foot jumper. However Mo looked alittle lazy on his jumper today, wasn't really jumping and releasing how he normally does.
Jauquin Hawkins is a great guy, he hustles for everything he can get and doesn't command the ball. He's a guy that would fit in anywhere in any system.
Kelvin Cato, boy was I disappointed in him today. I defend the guy all the time because he does have the talent to be a quality player but he just let Kevin Willis destroy us with offensive boards and easy buckets. I recall him early in the 2nd quarter arguing with the refs while Willis just casually jogged up court, recieved a pass and got the wide open lay-up. The reverse alley-oop attempt with Steve Francis however had me on my feet, too bad it didn't go down.
Moochie Norris seems to be getting along with Yao quite well. Playing around with him and getting him and the crowd fired up after making some good plays, including a jumper from about 15 feet that turned into a 3 point play. He also had a sweet give and go with Yao who gave Moochie a pin point pass for the easy lay-up.
Eddie Griffin, the guy has a good shot. The reason for him missing shots is because he seems to be favouring his left side, leans sideways as he shoots. I would say this is because he isn't confident taking shots at the moment. Once he is more settled into the system he will improve his jump shot. I also noticed he hesitates to dribble, looks like he is worried about having the ball stripped or causing turnovers. I was excited on one play however when he pump faked Duncan in the air and drove to the hoop for 2. Give him time and he will become the player we have wished for.
Kenny Thomas, well, you may argue that I don't like the guy but I hate watching the guy isolating when we have Steve and other better options. He hit a few nice shots but when he has the ball like that you know he's going to take a low percentage shot. I did like the double spin move he made in the second half, that was pretty, his defender was getting head spins.
Terrence Morris has found his stroke. I would love to see this guy get more minutes. He puts 110% in on the defensive end, he's not a great defender but I love the effort he puts in.

Overall, I saw great defense by the Rockets. Their scheme early in the game on Duncan was great. Steve's defense has improved alot, he puts in great effort in putting his body inbetween his man and the basket. Yao however is the main reason for the Rockets defense tonight. His presence is huge, I mean, the Spurs were scared to take it inside during the second quarter because he was so intimidating. He changed alot of shots and IMO stopped Tony Parker from getting those lay-ups he usually gets. On offense, the Rockets who were most impressive were Mooch and Yao. Mooch was turning it on in the second quarter and set up some good plays with Griffin and Yao. Yao was just unstoppable with that 10-15 foot turn around jumper, however, the Spurs then began to double and deney any entry pass to Yao. Steve was also great but couldn't really take over the game because the whole Spurs team would callapse on him once he got near the paint. Steve seriously needs to have a screen set for him more often, pick and roll and give and go's would make him so much more effective.

Anyway, great game, I loved it and I hope you like the read. Although there was alot to read.